Britain’s Bradley Wiggins has smashed the UCI (International Cycling Union) hour record at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London.
Wiggins’s distance of 54.526 kilometres on Sunday eclipsed the previous record of 52.937km, set by fellow British rider Alex Dowsett in Manchester last month.
“I’m just glad it’s done,” Wiggins told Sky Sports.
“That’s the closest to knowing what it’s like to have a baby. It was tortuous. You’re counting down the minutes.
“We’ve been through a lot as a little team, my wife and kids know a lot about air pressure.
“I always compare myself to the greats. I’m just glad to be in the company of those guys. Just to get up there and do that takes a lot of courage. It’s tough.”
However, Wiggins’s ambitious target of 55km – which he had indicated beforehand might set a record that would stand for a generation – proved even beyond the British cycling great, who was roared on by a packed crowd at what was the 2012 London Olympic Velodrome.
Remarkably, world time-trial champion Wiggins still had the strength to lift his bike above his head after completing a punishing hour in the saddle.
Since the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, unified the regulations surrounding the event last year, four riders have held the record: Germany’s Jens Voigt, Matthias Brandle of Switzerland, Australian Rohan Dennis and Dowsett.
By setting a new hour record, the 35-year-old Wiggins has added to a list of impressive achievements in a career that has seen him win four Olympic gold medals, as well as becoming the first British winner of the Tour de France – cycling’s most prestigious road race – in 2012.
Wiggins has said next year’s Olympic Games in Rio is likely to mark his farewell to competitive cycling.
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